Fic: "That's just the way it is", Jared/Jensen, PG-13
Fic title: "That's just the way it is"
Author: the_milky_way
Genre: RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 3400
Warnings/Spoilers: none
Beta: Many thanks to A.
Disclaimer: This story is fictional (not real, didn't happen). Not true in any way. I don't own anything.
Summary: It's Jensen's birthday and his crazy grandmother from Texas is visiting. Which means Jensen and Jared have to hide fact that they are a couple.
Notes: This was written for morgentau and her prompt at comment_away's J-Squared Birthday Comment Fic Meme
„She what? “ Jensen doesn’t care that the panic is evident in his voice. He is pretty panicked after all.
“She called and said she’s on her way over here. Said it should be a surprise for you and that’s why she didn’t say anything.” How his mother can be so calm about it is beyond Jensen. Really, this is his birthday and everyone knows how much he hates birthday surprises. Hates them with a vengeance even. Ever since Josh thought it was funny to through a surprise party when Jensen turned eight and only invited his own friends.
“Mom! How? She is on the way? Like already landed and all?”
Jensen tries not to flail or panic even more when his momma just stands there, smiles and nods all gravely. This will be worst birthday ever. Jensen has just decided that. Because there is one thing you need to know about his grandmother.
She’s absolutely crazy and doesn’t let any other opinion live in the world but her own. And… no one knows what she’s thinking at the best of times anyway. She switches opinions and views in a matter of seconds and then insists that it has always been her way of seeing things.
Well, his Nonna is a Hippie after all. A Hippie with very conservative world views sometimes. One that still insists on the establishment is to blame for all the problems society has and that liberalism is the way to go but then goes and votes the total opposite. One, that collects coupons and fights for every special offer because she doesn’t want to spent a single cent too much and then goes to a beamer system for a Volkswagen bus. A bus she painted in violet and pink but decked out in black leather inside.
Jensen’s grandmother is a living contradiction.
And Jensen has no idea how his mother turned out as sane as she is with Nonna being crazy and all. But then his mom has her moments as well and sometimes Jensen thinks it might be genetic and he’ll be like this as well when he’s old and grumpy.
Jensen blinks. Wait a second. He’ll be 33 today and he’s grumpy already. Just great. Really, this will be the worst birthday ever.
****
“God Jen, just stop it. How often do you want to say it? It’ll be like a self-fulfilling prophecy now. You think it’ll be bad so it will be. Stop being such a drama queen.”
Okay, so he might have overdone it with the muttering and cursing. A little bit. Just a tiny bit maybe. But that’s no reason for Jared to snap at him like that. No reason at all. This birthday sucks.
“Have you met my Nonna?” Jensen asks all tastily and tries not to cringe at the look Jared sends him. Jared really is innocent here and tries to calm Jensen down. He doesn’t deserve to be the target of Jensen’s foul mood.
“Not yet. But it seems like I’ll be able to in a few minutes. Calm down, man. It won’t be that bad. I know you think she’ll cause chaos but you know the only ones running around like headless chicken are you and your dad.” The smirk that Jared is sporting is really all that nice. Jared has no idea what will mow him over the second his Nonna is in the house.
Jensen had tried to prepare Jared but as usually Jared hadn’t listened to a single word. Okay, that’s not fair. Jared usually always listens when Jensen says something… something reasonable as Jared had pointed out just mere minutes ago. So Jensen, apparently, hadn’t been all too reasonable in his warnings about his crazy grandmother.
And now Jensen is out of time to really prepare Jared for it all.
“Jay?”
“Yes, Jensen?” Jared is standing right there, an amused look on his face and eyebrows slightly raised. For a second Jensen is missing the words, all he wants to do is grab Jared and hide with him in the bedroom. Their bedroom. And isn’t that the whole problem here?
“Uh... you know how I told you that Nonna kind of jumps from one opinion to another? Like every minute or so?”
Jared nods, steps closer to Jensen as if he’s prepared to either hug Jensen or slap him in case something even more silly than his panicked rambles comes out of his mouth. Good to know that Jared is prepared for Jensen’s insanity.
“Well, there has been one thing she’s been pretty consistent about.”
Jared doesn’t say a thing but Jensen can see it working behind his eyes.
“She... well she wants me to get married and have kids. Like immediately because I’m old already.” Jensen tries not to flinch at the scowl that works itself up Jared’s face but he doesn’t look away either.
“So... she doesn’t know? About you? About us?” Jared sounds calm but Jensen can hear the hurt underlining the words and he knows he should have told Jared about it way sooner and not when it’s already too late.
“Well... she knows about me. Didn’t want to hear it though. She always blocks and changes the topic. I never got around telling her about you because she never listened. I’m sorry. I… I never wanted you to be in this situation. You know this, right? Everyone else knows.”
Jensen feels like shit. This birthday really sucks.
“Hey… hey, Jen. It’s okay. We’ll be roommates again, just for today. It’s okay.”
“It’s not. But thanks.” Jensen just tilts so and smiles against the warm lips meeting his. Jared knows him like no one else does. He just hopes they’ll survive this day.
***
Jensen should have known that it wouldn’t be this easy. Just roommates my ass. They barely can keep their hands off of each other when people who know are around, so why did he think they might deal better with his Nonna in the house?
Jared almost bowled him over on the way to the door when the door bell rang. Mostly because he wanted to make a good first impression and be the absolute gentleman. Only, Nonna wasn’t impressed at all and told him off when Jared tried to take her coat.
Then after the greetings where done, after Jensen had been pinched in the cheeks and told he was too scruffy to be presentable not matter if he played an outlaw on TV, Jared tried to engage her in a conversation, tried several topics and ended up talking about the weather. That only resulted in Nonna complaining about the cold and how they could even manage in weather like this. Jensen just barely managed to clamp a hand over Jared’s mouth before something embarrassing came out of it.
That earned them their second odd look of the day. But then his grandma is crazy and always looks oddly at him.
Barely 10 minutes in and Jensen felt like he was under a microscope. Then Jared had to go, grab him at the hips and lift him out of the way because he needed to get something from the shelves behind him. Yeah, not suspicious at all.
Jensen’s mom juts rolled her eyes and dragged Jared into the kitchen. Where both of them hid for a while until Jensen couldn’t take it anymore and send Donna back out. Donna then had to explain three times why they were celebrating in Canada and not in Texas and then she had to go on explain why Danneel wasn’t present.
Jensen just stayed in the kitchen and kinda clung to Jared who was trying not to laugh at every single question they could hear being fired at Donna. Jensen was eternally grateful for Danneel telling him off on the phone for trying to lure her into flying up last minute and pretend to be his wife. Just also almost ripped him a new one for just having that idea. She was Jensen’s best friend but she won’t ever do something that would hurt Jared like that.
Jensen loves her for it.
And he hates Jared for agreeing and then offering to call up Gen see if she was willing to play. Jensen thinks it was a test just to see how he’d react in his panic and he is insanely proud of himself that he said no and didn’t listen to the voice in his head yelling “Yes. Goddammit, yes. Do it.” He’s also really glad that the voice sounded like himself and not like his Nonna like it usually does when she is around.
They had tried to make the house Nonna-safe. Had hid the too telling pictures, had prepared Jensen’s old room, which is a guestroom now and will be used later anyway and had tried to straighten some things out in either room (so to speak).
Jensen knows there is almost nothing that can escape his Nonna’s eyes when she’s set on finding out things and he has the bad feeling that his grandmother is really, really set on finding something out. There has been this look in her eyes ever since she said hello and caught Jared standing too close to Donna. That was the first odd look of the day.
Yes, that alone was already suspicious because Donna only ever lets family members get this close to her and let them help her in the kitchen. So Jensen knows his Nonna knows that something is up. They all are under scrutiny here and Jensen has the feeling that they aren’t as god at hiding as they think they are. It’s the little things, like the touches Jared’s can’t suppress or the looks Jensen can’t stop.
Now Jensen is hiding in the bedroom under the guise of looking for a new shirt because he accidentally spilled coffee on his when Nonna asked about his health status and if his prostate is acting up already, because Jensen is old enough now for it to happen.
Jensen had jerked so violently that half his cup ended up on his shirt and jeans. The other half landed on Jared.
But that hadn’t been his main concern. No, Jensen had been way too busy patting Jared on the back and easing his coughing fit. Because Jared had already been drinking happily when that question came along. Jensen feels guilty and a little sorry for Jared, who he can still hear coughing in the bathroom. But then Jensen thinks it’s more the laughing fit now that sets off the coughs again than the coffee going down the wrong way.
Yes, Jared is laughing himself silly and Jensen feels his lips twitch every so often and he knows exactly why. He knows what Jared wants to tell Nonna and that he’s really just trying to hold himself back from running down the stairs and yelling something like “Jensen’s prostate is just fine. I should know. I visit it every night.” Jensen knows all this because Jared had been muttering it under his coughs all way to the bathroom.
So now Jensen is now going through the dresser in search for a decent shirt, which means it should neither be pink (Jared’s in this case), sport any kind of Superheroes (unfortunately his) or sports teams that aren’t from Texas (both their hockey jerseys). He still feels the heat in his cheeks and his fingers are still trembling a little bit.
This is so not how he thought his birthday would be like. And to think that they have an early call tomorrow... Jensen sighs and just flops down on the bed. The neatly made bed in case his grandma comes up poking around. She’s noisy as hell and always inspects the places of her children and grandchildren. Up until now Jensen had successfully managed to keep her occupied, thus out of their private rooms.
And up until now everything had been going rather smoothly. Nonna didn’t question him living with Jared, asked only once after Danneel and only asked polite questions direct towards Jared. Jensen thinks it’s just the calm before the storm.
Okay, so there had been embarrassing stories about him as a baby or about Nonna’s days with the Veteran’s club - really, Jensen didn’t need to hear how hot those old guys in the nursery home are - but that has been rather tame compared to her usual repertoire.
But when the coffee-spilling-coughing-incident had happened and both him and Jared vanished upstairs Jensen heard Nonna asking why Jensen didn’t use *his room downstairs to change and he knew things would be very, very awkward once they came back down again.
He sighs, glances up at the ceiling and snorts at the glowing stars Megan and Mack had put there last Thanksgiving. Sometimes Jensen thinks they should never have allowed them being this close.
“Jensen? Honey? Are you in there?” Nonna’s voice makes it through to him. It’s like a bucket of ice water and Jensen tries to scramble up from the bed that is now not so neatly made anymore.
“Nonna. Yeah... in here... I... uh,” Jensen flails, tries to straighten the bedspread and get up at the same time. His eye-hand-coordination sucks today and he only manages to get himself tangled up and crash to the floor with a thumb and a squeak. And all that just as his grandmother steps into the room.
What also happens is that Jared comes running out of the bathroom the exact same moment, half naked, face red and tear streaked from laughing hard and a worried look on his face.
“Jen, you okay?”
No. Jensen is definitely not okay and judging from the look on Nonna’s face she’s about to have a heart attack right then and there. Great. Just great. This is how he’d always envisioned telling his very special grandmother that he’s in a relationship with a man. Not.
“Uh… Fine. I’m…Yeah,” Jensen mumbles, detangles himself and just drops down on the bed again. No way is he doing this standing up and facing his Nonna at the same time.
“Young man… don’t you think it is very inappropriate to walk around half naked in my grandson’s house.” Nonna is looking directly at Jared who just gapes a little but doesn’t say a word.
“It’s his house, too, grandma,” Jensen says and tries to not feel like five and defending a play buddy who smashed his grandma’s begonias with the football.
“Still not an appropriate attire, Jensen. It’s not seemly. Unmarried people shouldn’t see each other like this.” The look on her face scares Jensen a little, almost so much that he forgets the words she just said.
Jared is the one to recover first though.
“What?”
“Well, you two aren’t married right? If you are I’ll be very, very disappointed with you. I at least would have expected a card if not an invitation.” She says that all in a tone as if it’s the most normal thing for Jared to be in Jensen’s bedroom - or you know the other way round as it is right now - and that the only thing amiss is Jared’s half-nakedness.
“Nonna?” Jensen isn’t sure what’s going on right now.
“Jensen, darling. Do you think I’m stupid?” She sits down next to him, giving Jared the chance to almost run back into the bathroom and get dressed.
“No. Of course not.” Jensen isn’t too sure about that but what else could he say here?
“Then why do you think I wouldn’t notice? And more importantly, why do you think you had to hide it all?” Nonna actually sounds a little hurt there and Jensen is a little lost as what to answer to it all.
“I… We… Well, you never... you always said I should marry, have kids and you never ever reacted when I said I like men. Never. I just thought you wouldn’t like it... You know, me and Jared.” Jensen thinks he sounds like 15 again, telling his parents and waiting for the sky to fall down and the earth to explode.
Nonna looks at him for a while, studies him and yes, the odd look is back. Jensen has a hard time not squirming and he can see Jared hovering in the bathroom door. None of them dares to say a think or even move. Jensen wonders when a single woman managed to gain that much power over him. But then, she does own the most embarrassing pictures of him ever made. Those twink cowboy pics? Not even the tip of the iceberg.
“Jensen… I’m sorry you thought thinks were like this. I never... well; I never reacted because I thought it’s nothing extraordinary about it these days. I just thought you wanted to be treated like any of my grandchildren. Have you ever heard me comment on Josh’s or Mack’s love life?”
And Jensen really has to think about it because he never did before. He was always way too focused on himself in that matter because he thought it was something special. And all this time it hadn’t been. He feels like a total douche right now.
“I’m sorry, Nonna. I don’t...”
“Jensen, listen. Of course, I want you to marry and have kids. But only because it has been all you talked about while growing up. I want you to be happy and not hide what you are. Who you are. I do have to say that I feel a little flattered though, that you went through all the trouble because if me. Never knew I had such an impact.”
Jensen has never seen his grandmother smirk. Never. And he begins to think that her attitude, her way or being, is just a front, a way of having an impact on people. It’s clever; he has to give her that. It keeps people on their toes.
Jared moves over then, stands behind Jensen, not touching but being there. And Nonna smiles. Jensen just knows what he has to do now.
“Nonna. This is Jared. My boyfriend.”
His grandmother just smiles at that and holds her hand out.
“Hello, Jared. Nice to meet you. Are you going to marry my grandson?”
“Likewise… and maybe.”
All Jensen can do is gape, at both of them and then his brain sort of catches up. The word coming out of his mouth, all indignant and affronted, isn’t really what he wanted to say.
“Grandma.” Jensen is pretty sure Jared is doubling over because of the question and not because of the very manly shriek he just let out. Nonna is laughing as well and Jensen can’t help but smile at the picture.
“Still the worst birthday ever?” She asks.
“How did you..?”
“Jensen, I could hear you grumble all the way down to the living room. Why do you think I came up here? Of course, I didn’t expect to find a half naked man with you. And again, I still say it’s rather inappropriate for non-married people. But who am I to dictate today’s youth huh?” She winks at them and leaves.
Jensen can’t believe that Jared without a shirt is the only thing she complains about.
He stands up to follow her but stops when Jared pulls him close and kisses him deeply. How he ever thought hiding them from Nonna was a good idea, he doesn’t know. But then he also doesn’t know if she won’t change her mind in a few minutes again. It’s Nonna after all. But for now Jensen takes what he can get and is happy about it.
“So Mr. Dramaqueen. Done freaking out? Can we please go down and have some cake? I’m starving.” Jared mumbles against Jensen’s neck and bites down gently.
“Of course you are. You always are…” Jensen kisses Jared again, just because he can and because he feels like it.
“Jared?”
“Hmmm?”
“For the record. If the maybe turns into a sure, the answer will be yes.” And Jensen knows he doesn’t have to elaborate because Jared’s eyes go wide and he’s hauled into a rather intense kiss. It’s not like he minds and it takes them a good five minutes to be able to follow Nonna downstairs again.
Jared doesn’t let go of his hand until he needs it for the cake.
So yeah, maybe not the worst birthday ever but definitely one of the memorable ones.
Author: the_milky_way
Genre: RPS
Pairing: Jared/Jensen
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~ 3400
Warnings/Spoilers: none
Beta: Many thanks to A.
Disclaimer: This story is fictional (not real, didn't happen). Not true in any way. I don't own anything.
Summary: It's Jensen's birthday and his crazy grandmother from Texas is visiting. Which means Jensen and Jared have to hide fact that they are a couple.
Notes: This was written for morgentau and her prompt at comment_away's J-Squared Birthday Comment Fic Meme
„She what? “ Jensen doesn’t care that the panic is evident in his voice. He is pretty panicked after all.
“She called and said she’s on her way over here. Said it should be a surprise for you and that’s why she didn’t say anything.” How his mother can be so calm about it is beyond Jensen. Really, this is his birthday and everyone knows how much he hates birthday surprises. Hates them with a vengeance even. Ever since Josh thought it was funny to through a surprise party when Jensen turned eight and only invited his own friends.
“Mom! How? She is on the way? Like already landed and all?”
Jensen tries not to flail or panic even more when his momma just stands there, smiles and nods all gravely. This will be worst birthday ever. Jensen has just decided that. Because there is one thing you need to know about his grandmother.
She’s absolutely crazy and doesn’t let any other opinion live in the world but her own. And… no one knows what she’s thinking at the best of times anyway. She switches opinions and views in a matter of seconds and then insists that it has always been her way of seeing things.
Well, his Nonna is a Hippie after all. A Hippie with very conservative world views sometimes. One that still insists on the establishment is to blame for all the problems society has and that liberalism is the way to go but then goes and votes the total opposite. One, that collects coupons and fights for every special offer because she doesn’t want to spent a single cent too much and then goes to a beamer system for a Volkswagen bus. A bus she painted in violet and pink but decked out in black leather inside.
Jensen’s grandmother is a living contradiction.
And Jensen has no idea how his mother turned out as sane as she is with Nonna being crazy and all. But then his mom has her moments as well and sometimes Jensen thinks it might be genetic and he’ll be like this as well when he’s old and grumpy.
Jensen blinks. Wait a second. He’ll be 33 today and he’s grumpy already. Just great. Really, this will be the worst birthday ever.
****
“God Jen, just stop it. How often do you want to say it? It’ll be like a self-fulfilling prophecy now. You think it’ll be bad so it will be. Stop being such a drama queen.”
Okay, so he might have overdone it with the muttering and cursing. A little bit. Just a tiny bit maybe. But that’s no reason for Jared to snap at him like that. No reason at all. This birthday sucks.
“Have you met my Nonna?” Jensen asks all tastily and tries not to cringe at the look Jared sends him. Jared really is innocent here and tries to calm Jensen down. He doesn’t deserve to be the target of Jensen’s foul mood.
“Not yet. But it seems like I’ll be able to in a few minutes. Calm down, man. It won’t be that bad. I know you think she’ll cause chaos but you know the only ones running around like headless chicken are you and your dad.” The smirk that Jared is sporting is really all that nice. Jared has no idea what will mow him over the second his Nonna is in the house.
Jensen had tried to prepare Jared but as usually Jared hadn’t listened to a single word. Okay, that’s not fair. Jared usually always listens when Jensen says something… something reasonable as Jared had pointed out just mere minutes ago. So Jensen, apparently, hadn’t been all too reasonable in his warnings about his crazy grandmother.
And now Jensen is out of time to really prepare Jared for it all.
“Jay?”
“Yes, Jensen?” Jared is standing right there, an amused look on his face and eyebrows slightly raised. For a second Jensen is missing the words, all he wants to do is grab Jared and hide with him in the bedroom. Their bedroom. And isn’t that the whole problem here?
“Uh... you know how I told you that Nonna kind of jumps from one opinion to another? Like every minute or so?”
Jared nods, steps closer to Jensen as if he’s prepared to either hug Jensen or slap him in case something even more silly than his panicked rambles comes out of his mouth. Good to know that Jared is prepared for Jensen’s insanity.
“Well, there has been one thing she’s been pretty consistent about.”
Jared doesn’t say a thing but Jensen can see it working behind his eyes.
“She... well she wants me to get married and have kids. Like immediately because I’m old already.” Jensen tries not to flinch at the scowl that works itself up Jared’s face but he doesn’t look away either.
“So... she doesn’t know? About you? About us?” Jared sounds calm but Jensen can hear the hurt underlining the words and he knows he should have told Jared about it way sooner and not when it’s already too late.
“Well... she knows about me. Didn’t want to hear it though. She always blocks and changes the topic. I never got around telling her about you because she never listened. I’m sorry. I… I never wanted you to be in this situation. You know this, right? Everyone else knows.”
Jensen feels like shit. This birthday really sucks.
“Hey… hey, Jen. It’s okay. We’ll be roommates again, just for today. It’s okay.”
“It’s not. But thanks.” Jensen just tilts so and smiles against the warm lips meeting his. Jared knows him like no one else does. He just hopes they’ll survive this day.
***
Jensen should have known that it wouldn’t be this easy. Just roommates my ass. They barely can keep their hands off of each other when people who know are around, so why did he think they might deal better with his Nonna in the house?
Jared almost bowled him over on the way to the door when the door bell rang. Mostly because he wanted to make a good first impression and be the absolute gentleman. Only, Nonna wasn’t impressed at all and told him off when Jared tried to take her coat.
Then after the greetings where done, after Jensen had been pinched in the cheeks and told he was too scruffy to be presentable not matter if he played an outlaw on TV, Jared tried to engage her in a conversation, tried several topics and ended up talking about the weather. That only resulted in Nonna complaining about the cold and how they could even manage in weather like this. Jensen just barely managed to clamp a hand over Jared’s mouth before something embarrassing came out of it.
That earned them their second odd look of the day. But then his grandma is crazy and always looks oddly at him.
Barely 10 minutes in and Jensen felt like he was under a microscope. Then Jared had to go, grab him at the hips and lift him out of the way because he needed to get something from the shelves behind him. Yeah, not suspicious at all.
Jensen’s mom juts rolled her eyes and dragged Jared into the kitchen. Where both of them hid for a while until Jensen couldn’t take it anymore and send Donna back out. Donna then had to explain three times why they were celebrating in Canada and not in Texas and then she had to go on explain why Danneel wasn’t present.
Jensen just stayed in the kitchen and kinda clung to Jared who was trying not to laugh at every single question they could hear being fired at Donna. Jensen was eternally grateful for Danneel telling him off on the phone for trying to lure her into flying up last minute and pretend to be his wife. Just also almost ripped him a new one for just having that idea. She was Jensen’s best friend but she won’t ever do something that would hurt Jared like that.
Jensen loves her for it.
And he hates Jared for agreeing and then offering to call up Gen see if she was willing to play. Jensen thinks it was a test just to see how he’d react in his panic and he is insanely proud of himself that he said no and didn’t listen to the voice in his head yelling “Yes. Goddammit, yes. Do it.” He’s also really glad that the voice sounded like himself and not like his Nonna like it usually does when she is around.
They had tried to make the house Nonna-safe. Had hid the too telling pictures, had prepared Jensen’s old room, which is a guestroom now and will be used later anyway and had tried to straighten some things out in either room (so to speak).
Jensen knows there is almost nothing that can escape his Nonna’s eyes when she’s set on finding out things and he has the bad feeling that his grandmother is really, really set on finding something out. There has been this look in her eyes ever since she said hello and caught Jared standing too close to Donna. That was the first odd look of the day.
Yes, that alone was already suspicious because Donna only ever lets family members get this close to her and let them help her in the kitchen. So Jensen knows his Nonna knows that something is up. They all are under scrutiny here and Jensen has the feeling that they aren’t as god at hiding as they think they are. It’s the little things, like the touches Jared’s can’t suppress or the looks Jensen can’t stop.
Now Jensen is hiding in the bedroom under the guise of looking for a new shirt because he accidentally spilled coffee on his when Nonna asked about his health status and if his prostate is acting up already, because Jensen is old enough now for it to happen.
Jensen had jerked so violently that half his cup ended up on his shirt and jeans. The other half landed on Jared.
But that hadn’t been his main concern. No, Jensen had been way too busy patting Jared on the back and easing his coughing fit. Because Jared had already been drinking happily when that question came along. Jensen feels guilty and a little sorry for Jared, who he can still hear coughing in the bathroom. But then Jensen thinks it’s more the laughing fit now that sets off the coughs again than the coffee going down the wrong way.
Yes, Jared is laughing himself silly and Jensen feels his lips twitch every so often and he knows exactly why. He knows what Jared wants to tell Nonna and that he’s really just trying to hold himself back from running down the stairs and yelling something like “Jensen’s prostate is just fine. I should know. I visit it every night.” Jensen knows all this because Jared had been muttering it under his coughs all way to the bathroom.
So now Jensen is now going through the dresser in search for a decent shirt, which means it should neither be pink (Jared’s in this case), sport any kind of Superheroes (unfortunately his) or sports teams that aren’t from Texas (both their hockey jerseys). He still feels the heat in his cheeks and his fingers are still trembling a little bit.
This is so not how he thought his birthday would be like. And to think that they have an early call tomorrow... Jensen sighs and just flops down on the bed. The neatly made bed in case his grandma comes up poking around. She’s noisy as hell and always inspects the places of her children and grandchildren. Up until now Jensen had successfully managed to keep her occupied, thus out of their private rooms.
And up until now everything had been going rather smoothly. Nonna didn’t question him living with Jared, asked only once after Danneel and only asked polite questions direct towards Jared. Jensen thinks it’s just the calm before the storm.
Okay, so there had been embarrassing stories about him as a baby or about Nonna’s days with the Veteran’s club - really, Jensen didn’t need to hear how hot those old guys in the nursery home are - but that has been rather tame compared to her usual repertoire.
But when the coffee-spilling-coughing-incident had happened and both him and Jared vanished upstairs Jensen heard Nonna asking why Jensen didn’t use *his room downstairs to change and he knew things would be very, very awkward once they came back down again.
He sighs, glances up at the ceiling and snorts at the glowing stars Megan and Mack had put there last Thanksgiving. Sometimes Jensen thinks they should never have allowed them being this close.
“Jensen? Honey? Are you in there?” Nonna’s voice makes it through to him. It’s like a bucket of ice water and Jensen tries to scramble up from the bed that is now not so neatly made anymore.
“Nonna. Yeah... in here... I... uh,” Jensen flails, tries to straighten the bedspread and get up at the same time. His eye-hand-coordination sucks today and he only manages to get himself tangled up and crash to the floor with a thumb and a squeak. And all that just as his grandmother steps into the room.
What also happens is that Jared comes running out of the bathroom the exact same moment, half naked, face red and tear streaked from laughing hard and a worried look on his face.
“Jen, you okay?”
No. Jensen is definitely not okay and judging from the look on Nonna’s face she’s about to have a heart attack right then and there. Great. Just great. This is how he’d always envisioned telling his very special grandmother that he’s in a relationship with a man. Not.
“Uh… Fine. I’m…Yeah,” Jensen mumbles, detangles himself and just drops down on the bed again. No way is he doing this standing up and facing his Nonna at the same time.
“Young man… don’t you think it is very inappropriate to walk around half naked in my grandson’s house.” Nonna is looking directly at Jared who just gapes a little but doesn’t say a word.
“It’s his house, too, grandma,” Jensen says and tries to not feel like five and defending a play buddy who smashed his grandma’s begonias with the football.
“Still not an appropriate attire, Jensen. It’s not seemly. Unmarried people shouldn’t see each other like this.” The look on her face scares Jensen a little, almost so much that he forgets the words she just said.
Jared is the one to recover first though.
“What?”
“Well, you two aren’t married right? If you are I’ll be very, very disappointed with you. I at least would have expected a card if not an invitation.” She says that all in a tone as if it’s the most normal thing for Jared to be in Jensen’s bedroom - or you know the other way round as it is right now - and that the only thing amiss is Jared’s half-nakedness.
“Nonna?” Jensen isn’t sure what’s going on right now.
“Jensen, darling. Do you think I’m stupid?” She sits down next to him, giving Jared the chance to almost run back into the bathroom and get dressed.
“No. Of course not.” Jensen isn’t too sure about that but what else could he say here?
“Then why do you think I wouldn’t notice? And more importantly, why do you think you had to hide it all?” Nonna actually sounds a little hurt there and Jensen is a little lost as what to answer to it all.
“I… We… Well, you never... you always said I should marry, have kids and you never ever reacted when I said I like men. Never. I just thought you wouldn’t like it... You know, me and Jared.” Jensen thinks he sounds like 15 again, telling his parents and waiting for the sky to fall down and the earth to explode.
Nonna looks at him for a while, studies him and yes, the odd look is back. Jensen has a hard time not squirming and he can see Jared hovering in the bathroom door. None of them dares to say a think or even move. Jensen wonders when a single woman managed to gain that much power over him. But then, she does own the most embarrassing pictures of him ever made. Those twink cowboy pics? Not even the tip of the iceberg.
“Jensen… I’m sorry you thought thinks were like this. I never... well; I never reacted because I thought it’s nothing extraordinary about it these days. I just thought you wanted to be treated like any of my grandchildren. Have you ever heard me comment on Josh’s or Mack’s love life?”
And Jensen really has to think about it because he never did before. He was always way too focused on himself in that matter because he thought it was something special. And all this time it hadn’t been. He feels like a total douche right now.
“I’m sorry, Nonna. I don’t...”
“Jensen, listen. Of course, I want you to marry and have kids. But only because it has been all you talked about while growing up. I want you to be happy and not hide what you are. Who you are. I do have to say that I feel a little flattered though, that you went through all the trouble because if me. Never knew I had such an impact.”
Jensen has never seen his grandmother smirk. Never. And he begins to think that her attitude, her way or being, is just a front, a way of having an impact on people. It’s clever; he has to give her that. It keeps people on their toes.
Jared moves over then, stands behind Jensen, not touching but being there. And Nonna smiles. Jensen just knows what he has to do now.
“Nonna. This is Jared. My boyfriend.”
His grandmother just smiles at that and holds her hand out.
“Hello, Jared. Nice to meet you. Are you going to marry my grandson?”
“Likewise… and maybe.”
All Jensen can do is gape, at both of them and then his brain sort of catches up. The word coming out of his mouth, all indignant and affronted, isn’t really what he wanted to say.
“Grandma.” Jensen is pretty sure Jared is doubling over because of the question and not because of the very manly shriek he just let out. Nonna is laughing as well and Jensen can’t help but smile at the picture.
“Still the worst birthday ever?” She asks.
“How did you..?”
“Jensen, I could hear you grumble all the way down to the living room. Why do you think I came up here? Of course, I didn’t expect to find a half naked man with you. And again, I still say it’s rather inappropriate for non-married people. But who am I to dictate today’s youth huh?” She winks at them and leaves.
Jensen can’t believe that Jared without a shirt is the only thing she complains about.
He stands up to follow her but stops when Jared pulls him close and kisses him deeply. How he ever thought hiding them from Nonna was a good idea, he doesn’t know. But then he also doesn’t know if she won’t change her mind in a few minutes again. It’s Nonna after all. But for now Jensen takes what he can get and is happy about it.
“So Mr. Dramaqueen. Done freaking out? Can we please go down and have some cake? I’m starving.” Jared mumbles against Jensen’s neck and bites down gently.
“Of course you are. You always are…” Jensen kisses Jared again, just because he can and because he feels like it.
“Jared?”
“Hmmm?”
“For the record. If the maybe turns into a sure, the answer will be yes.” And Jensen knows he doesn’t have to elaborate because Jared’s eyes go wide and he’s hauled into a rather intense kiss. It’s not like he minds and it takes them a good five minutes to be able to follow Nonna downstairs again.
Jared doesn’t let go of his hand until he needs it for the cake.
So yeah, maybe not the worst birthday ever but definitely one of the memorable ones.